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- All Subjects: public health
- Creators: Bruening, Meg
Purpose: To assess the efficacy of Athletes for Life (AFL), a 12-week community-and-family-based behavioral intervention, for improving diet, physical activity (PA), anthropometrics, fitness, and biochemical outcomes among mostly Latino parents.
Methods: Parents with at least one child 6-11 years of age were randomized to active AFL participation (n=14) or a wait-list control (n=14) group. AFL consisted of twice weekly 90 minute sessions (45 minutes of nutrition-focused lessons and 45 minutes of PA participation) designed to promote fruit and vegetable consumption, reduction of sugar intake, and increasing habitual PA. Data were collected prior to and immediately after the 12 week intervention.
Results: Participants (37.9±7.2y) were mostly Latino (93%), Spanish speaking (68%), and women (93%). Relative to participants in the control group, AFL participants had a significant reduction in body fat (-1.1±1.2% vs. 0.2±1.2%; p=0.014), resting (-7.6±10.2 bpm vs. +2.1±6.8 bpm; p<0.01), exercise (-8.4±8.7 bpm vs. +0.4±7.3 bpm; p<0.01), and recovery heart rate (-11.9±12.8 bpm vs. -0.3±11.4 bpm; p=0.01), and one mile run time (-1.5±1.0 min vs. -0.1±0.9 min; p<0.01), and a significant increase in estimated VO2 peak (+1.9±1.9 ml/kg/min vs. 0.0±1.8 ml/kg/min; p=0.01). AFL participants also reported an increase in the number of days/week accumulating 30 minutes of MVPA (+0.8±3.2 vs. -1.5±2.3; p=0.004) and daily servings of fruits (+1.3±1.4 vs. +0.3±1.4; p<0.05) and vegetables (+1.8±1.7 vs. +0.1±1.2; p<0.05), relative to control participants. There were no significant differences between groups in changes in diet assessed by 3-day food record, accelerometer-measured PA, weight, blood pressure, visceral fat, biomarkers for cardiovascular disease or nutritional biomarkers.
Conclusions: Despite the lack of effects on diet and PA behaviors, AFL shows promising preliminary efficacy for reducing body fat and improving fitness among adult participants. Future research aimed at improving fitness among Latino parents with family-based intervention is warranted.
Methods: Study participants (n=1469) were elementary and middle school students who ate school lunch on the day of data collection. Photographs and weights (to nearest 2 g) were taken of fruits and vegetables on students’ trays before and after lunch. Trained research assistants viewed photographs and sorted trays into variable categories: color of main tray, presence/absence of secondary fruit/vegetable container, and color of secondary fruit/vegetable container. Fruit and vegetable selection, consumption, and waste were calculated using tray weights. Negative binomial regression models adjusted for gender, grade level, race/ethnicity, free/reduced price lunch status, and within-school similarities were used to examine relationships between tray color and fruit and vegetable selection, consumption, and waste.
Results: Findings indicated that students with a light tray selected (IRR= 0.44), consumed (IRR=0.73) and wasted (IRR=0.81) less fruit and vegetables. Students without a secondary fruit/vegetable container selected (IRR=0.66) and consumed (IRR=0.49) less fruit and vegetables compared to those with a secondary container. Light or clear secondary fruit and vegetable containers were related to increased selection (IRR=2.06 light, 2.30 clear) and consumption (IRR=1.95 light, 2.78 clear) compared to dark secondary containers, while light secondary containers were related to decreased waste (IRR= 0.57).
Conclusion: Tray color may influence fruit and vegetable selection, consumption, and waste among students eating school lunch. Further research is needed to determine if there is a cause and effect relationship. If so, adjusting container colors may be a practical intervention for schools hoping to increase fruit and vegetable intake among students.
Methods: Survey design and ethnographic field methods were used to develop, test, and validate the Street Food Stand Assessment Tool (SFSAT). Geographic information system and ground-truthing methods were used to identify a sample of street segments across 20 neighborhoods representing low-, middle- and high-income neighborhoods in Mexico City on which to assess the availability, density, variety, and distribution of SFS and the foods and beverages sold at these food venues using the SFSAT.
Results: A sample of 391 SFS were assessed across 791 street segments. Results showed that SFS were found in all neighborhoods. Contrary to the initial hypothesis, most SFS were found in middle-income neighborhoods. While the availability of street foods and beverages was higher in middle-income neighborhoods, the variety was less consistent: fruit/vegetable variety was high in high-income neighborhoods whereas processed snack variety was higher in low-income neighborhoods. SFS were most often distributed near homes, transportation centers, and worksites across the three neighborhood income levels.
Conclusion: This study bridged the gap in knowledge about the availability, density, variety, and distribution of SFS and products sold at these sources of food by using an assessment tool that was developed, tested, and validated specifically for SFS. The findings showed that SFS were found across all neighborhoods. Furthermore, results also suggested that SFS can be a source of healthy food items. Additional studies are needed to understand the relationship between SFS availability, food consumption, and health outcomes in the Mexican population.
The Future of Wastewater Sensing workshop is part of a collaboration between Arizona State University Center for Nanotechnology in Society in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society, the Biodesign Institute’s Center for Environmental Security, LC Nano, and the Nano-enabled Water Treatment (NEWT) Systems NSF Engineering Research Center. The Future of Wastewater Sensing workshop explores how technologies for studying, monitoring, and mining wastewater and sewage sludge might develop in the future, and what consequences may ensue for public health, law enforcement, private industry, regulations and society at large. The workshop pays particular attention to how wastewater sensing (and accompanying research, technologies, and applications) can be innovated, regulated, and used to maximize societal benefit and minimize the risk of adverse outcomes, when addressing critical social and environmental challenges.
Objective: This study aims to examine the relationship between friend advice about weight management, self-perception of weight, and alterations to weight change intentions, physical activity, and eating habits in college freshmen over time.
Methods: College freshmen from ASU with complete data for three time points (n=321) were found to be predominantly female (72.2%) and non-white (53.2%) with a mean age of 17.5±41. Complete data included responses for items included in analysis which were related to friend encouragement about weigh management, self-perception of weight, physical activity, eating behaviors, and weight change intentions. A longitudinal multivariate mediation analysis using negative binomial regression adjusted for sociodemographics and clustering by dorm was used to assess the relationship between 1) friend encouragement about weight management at time 1 and behavioral outcomes at time 3, 2) friend encouragement about weight management at time 1 and self-perception of weight at time 2, and 3) self-perception of weight at time 2 and behavioral outcomes at time 3.
Results: A small proportion of population perceived friend encouragement about weight loss (18.3%) and weight gain (14.4%) at time 1. Half the population (50.9%) had the self-perception of overweight at time 2. At time 3, more than half (54.3%) of individuals performed at least 60 minutes of MVPA and consumed at least ½ a serving of sugar-sweetened beverages each day, while nearly half (48.6%) consumed at least 2 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Males perceived more friend encouragement to gain weight (27.4%; p<0.01), but more females had the self-perception of overweight (54%; p=0.04) and were attempting to lose weight (59.3%; p<0.01). Individuals who perceived friend encouragement to lose weight at time 1 had a 14.8% greater prevalence (p<0.001) of overweight perception of time two, and a 9.6% and 6.9%; decreased prevalence (p<0.001) of weight change and weight loss intentions (p=0.023) at time three respectively. Individuals who perceived friend encouragement to gain weight had a 34.9% decreased prevalence of (p<0.001) of self-perception of overweight at time 1. In individuals with the self-perception of overweight at time 2, there was a 18.1% increased prevalence (p<0.001) of consuming at least ½ a serving of sugar-sweetened beverages/day and an increased prevalence of 22.8% and 24.0% for weight change intentions and weight loss intentions at time 3 (p<0.001).
Conclusion: These findings suggest that there was not a mediation effect of self-perception of overweight in the relationship between friend encouragement about weight management and behavioral outcomes in the current sample. However, the increased prevalence of overweight perception in individuals who perceived friend encouragement about weight management may inform future interventions to focus on how weight-related conversations with friends is related to overweight perception. More research about the relationship between weight-related conversations had with friends, self-perception of weight, and health behaviors is needed to confirm these findings.